Morning Brief: The road to recovery?

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Finally, the credit markets showed signs of easing Monday after several anxious weeks. The dollar also hit an 18-month high against the euro after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said he would support a new stimulus package for the United States.

Meanwhile, Japan and France announced new bailout measures, and Pakistan and Iceland turned to the IMF for aid. The U.S. Treasury Department is said to be encouraging more mergers in the banking sector.

Things will likely get worse, however, before they get better. The markets remain extremely volatile, and one U.N. agency predicts the financial crisis will wipe out 20 million jobs around the world.

Decision '08

Barack Obama is canceling campaign events to visit his sick grandmother in Hawaii.

Its back to the wall, the McCain team is trying to figure out how to win without Iowa, New Mexico, and Colorado, according to CNN.

Americas

The New York Times reports that U.S. President George W. Bush never considered any plans to close the Guantánamo Bay prison. In a new piece for FP, Peter Bergen and Ken Ballen use new evidence to show why Gitmo was a terrible mistake.

Mexico is cracking down on Cubans trying to enter the United States.

Venezuela, along with Russia and Iran, faces a "reckoning" as oil prices collapse.

Asia

Taliban gunmen mowed down a British female aid worker on a Kabul street for "spreading Christianity."

Pakistan and India are reopening a trade route in Kashmir.

Thailand's Supreme Court found the country's ex-prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, guilty of corruption.

Middle East and Africa

Turkey's attempted trial of 86 alleged coup plotters was disrupted by protesters.

In a pre-dawn raid, Iraqi forces arrested the father and brother of a key Sunni "Awakening" leader in Diyala province. Watch for a backlash.

Botswana condemned Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe for excluding his rival from power-sharing talks in Swaziland.

Europe

Britain's conservative party is being accused of soliciting donations from a Russian billionaire.

Spain's new plan offers immigrants money to leave the country.

Europe's leadership on climate change could become a casualty of the financial crisis.

The rouble is under attack as Russians seek safety in dollars and euros.

Today's Agenda

India is preparing for its first unmanned mission to the moon.

President Bush hosts a summit on international development.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson speaks on China.